Raveleijn Fanfiction
by TheHappyPerson
Summary: When five brothers and sisters move to an old village they expect nothing exciting. When they end up in another world as knights and have to save the city Raveleijn their world turns upside down! However, they meet another stranger from their world. Thomas and Maurits both have feelings, but someone must retreat. Who takes the place of the current enemy? Will they be strong enough?
1. Chapter 1

This fanfiction is based on the book Raveleijn, written by Paul van Loon. The book is Dutch, which probably is why not many people heard about it. I want to say this fanfic can be a bit similar to the book in the first chapters but that's needed for building up the story. I hope people will like this but I won't upload more because I'm moving to another continent which means I am very busy right now. Now, the last thing I want to say is that I do not own the original story. Enjoy!

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**Chapter 1**

A big Range Rover halted in front of an ancient looking house. In the car there were five children, a woman and a man. The Woudenberg family had packed their belongings a few days ago and here they were, the other side of the country in an old village. This was something entirely different from the big city they were used to.

The eldest of the five children, a seventeen-year old boy with brown hair named Thomas, complained silently. He didn't quit his band against his will to move to this deserted place. He glanced at his brother Maurits. A bit of a nerdy guy, Thomas admitted to himself. Maurits liked comic books, physics biology and many other things that didn't appeal to most sane people. How much the blonde geek could annoy him with random facts, he was very clever for someone of fourteen. Thomas knew he couldn't count on Maurits' support if he would try to convince his father to move back. His gaze shifted to his twin sisters, Emma and Lisa, who had been texting their friends the whole drive here. His sisters were twelve and had light blonde hair. They had a habit of calling Thomas and idiot but maybe this time they would support him against their father. If he could convince Emma, Lisa would follow. Emma often made the decisions and Lisa followed, though sometimes it seemed they shared one brain. It wasn't a surprise to him they could even finish each other's sentences. 'Hey Emma,' he started, but was quickly cut off by his father.

'Emma and Lisa, can you please listen to me?' A grin spread across his father's face.

The twins looked up and giggled. 'Yes?' they simultaneously answered, which caused them to giggle even more.

Their father smiled. 'I have a big surprise for you.' He made his way into the house, where the moving company had already assembled all the furniture and returned with a small box.

Thomas tilted his head. Did that box make sounds? His question was answered not so soon after when he heard Emma and Lisa screaming. It was a puppy. Damn, Thomas thought. Dad already counted on this so he bought them a dog. He couldn't count on the twins either now. It was entirely up to his youngest brother, the six-year old boy Joost with his slightly curly hair with a colour Thomas compared to a mix of blonde and brown. However, when Thomas saw his little brother playing around with dirt and his wooden sword, his confidence sank. He mumbled. 'I don't stand a chance.' At least he took his guitar with him so he could write some songs and play the guitar as much as he'd want. He didn't want to think about his former band, The Killer Raven. It pained him much he had to leave them because his parents decided to quit their jobs and concentrate on painting and making wine. He sighed. The band he had spent so much time with, his friends, no one was ever going to find him here. Well, at least my parents are happy, he thought. I wouldn't want to ruin their dreams. He turned on his ipod and entered his new home. Everything looked so odd. He didn't like the contrast between the old building which had the design of an old farm with the modern sofa, chairs and about everything else that was theirs. What if they didn't have a plug connection for his electric guitar? Then he couldn't even enjoy his biggest passion. Right, he was the only one who played an electrical instrument. Maurits played the flute and Emma and Lisa played the violin and piano. Joost wasn't interested in music. He liked to play with swords an pretend to be a knight. Thomas sighed. He pulled out his earbuds, placed the music device on the nearest table and headed outside. Next to the Range Rover his father stood waiting for him.

'So, what do you think?' he looked intensively at Thomas. You could see he was silently pleading for a positive answer.

Thomas shrugged his shoulders. 'It's fine, really. I'm sure everyone will love it here.' He tried to sound as convincing as possible, though he didn't look his father in the eyes. It would sadden him.

Luckily, his father believed him and patted his back. 'I'm glad you all like it. Do you see your mother? She seems so happy! It's as if she's the young girl I met years ago.' The man was glowing from joy.

From the inside, Thomas' conscience was at war with his desires. His desires wanted him to return to the city as soon as possible while his conscience tried to reason with him. His conscience won. He just couldn't destroy his parents' happiness. They hadn't seem so peaceful since they were only very young, so he decided to put the matter aside. Whether he liked it or not, he would have to get accustomed to this house.

After everything was brought into the house they all took a seat. Everyone was a bit exhausted except for Joost, who was running around the house yelling 'I, Joost the bravest knight of all, will slay you all! Stupid villains!' Emma and Lisa were playing with their puppy, which they eventually had named Spike.

'Look, Spike! Fetch!' Lisa threw a small wooden stick a few metres away. The small dog stared at the two girls confused. The dog hadn't been trained before.

'Maybe he doesn't understand us?' Emma asked.

'Or his reflexes aren't developed enough and you two haven't had the chance to teach him commandos.' Maurits stated. The boy was studying a beetle and writing down all kinds of data of the bug.

Thomas rolled his eyes. Maurits was such a know-it-all. He stared blankly to the hearth. Suddenly, he heard a peculiar noise. Grime fluttered into the fire from the chimney.

'Do you…' Emma started.

'…hear that?' Lisa finished.

'What the heck is that? It sounds like a … bird.' Thomas said.

Thomas, Maurits, Emma and Lisa approached the fireplace. Joost noticed the sudden change of mood and joined the four. 'Wicked awesome.' The young boy whispered. A single feather drifted downwards into his hands.

Maurits took out a little book with notes. He scrabbled down a few words and spoke hushed. 'It's from a raven.' The feather glistened with shades of dark purple and green. It looked almost magical.

Thomas shuddered. The thing gave him the creeps. He had a bad feeling about this. It was probably another extra this stupid place had up its sleeve. What an old-fashioned village, they still have problems with keeping birds out of the chimney, he thought. However, why didn't the feather burn by the fire? He quickly shook off the thought . No, it wasn't the time for fantasies and hallucinations. He would leave that job to Joost. He left his brothers and sisters alone and went to check on his mother.

'Thomas! How are you feeling? Do you still think this place is horrible?' His mother had already started painting the room she wanted as her art studio.

Thomas shifted his feet. 'I just hope we have wifi soon.' He answered.

His mother planted a kiss on his cheek. 'Oh, you're going to love it! I'll start painting as soon as I finish giving this room a cheerful colour and by the time everything is placed as we want it, you are already used to living here.'

Thomas smiled slightly. His mother was always optimistic. She had some kind of aura around her that made everyone around her smile. She was dedicated to painting and very talented.

'Now go to your siblings. Take them outside the house to get used to the environment. The fresh air is good for you.' His mother shooed him out of the future art studio.

Thomas slumped back to the others. If there was one thing he had no intention of doing, it was exploring the outer part of their new house. Having to do it with his brothers and sisters would only make it worse.

By the time he had come back to the living room everyone was back to their own business. Emma and Lisa were just about to head outside with Spike.

'Em, wait a minute.' Thomas signalled them to come closer. 'Take Maurits and Joost with you, okay? Mom said they needed fresh air.'

'Sure thing.' Emma said. 'Maurits, Joost! We're going to walk Spike, will you two join us?'

Maurits nodded. 'Yeah, this is the ideal opportunity to take in the surroundings.' He grabbed his coat from the coat rack was outside before Thomas could even react.

The twins had to persuade Joost into coming with them because he didn't want to leave his so-called castle. It took them a bit of effort but when they said he could still be a knight outside he made his most heroic face and stormed through the doorway, pretending to be on a horse and waving with his wooden toy.

Lisa hesitated before the party left. 'Aren't you coming, Thomas?'

'Eh, well…' he scratched the back of his head.

'Thomas! I need your help.' His father walked up to him. 'Will you help me with the vineyard? There is also water wheel we need to fix. Do you perhaps have time?' he looked at his son expectantly.

'Well, I was about to walk the dog with the twins, Maurits and Joost, so…'

'But I thought you didn't want to-' Maurits was quickly cut off by Thomas, who roughly pushed him away. 'Shut it, Mau!' he whispered. 'I don't want to help so if you don't want a bruise you play along.'

'What I meant was that I didn't want to leave them on their own in this unknown village. Who knows what kind of trouble they could get into?' Thomas was pushing the others away, too.

'Don't be so aggressive to Spike, idiot!' Emma snarled.

'Hmm, you're right Thomas.' His father said. 'Don't stay away too long, okay?'

'We'll be fine, dad.' And with that, the five children left the house.

Their father sighed. Children could be so unpredictable sometimes. 'Bye.' He whispered to himself.

Once their home was out of sight Thomas pushed Maurits aside. 'You idiot! Don't you understand what play along means? You are the smart one.'

'Ouch!' Maurits rubbed his arm. 'I was just being precise on the matter. Besides, ' he added, 'it's your fault. You could have said you wanted to come from the beginning. But you dislike this place so now you're taking it out on us.' The blonde glanced at Thomas.

'Ugh, know-it-all.' He was glaring daggers at his little brother. 'If you're so smart why don't you marry a computer, tssk.' With that last statement, Thomas decided to walk in front of everyone.

The walk was quite talkative, despite the tension between Thomas and Maurits. Emma and Lisa were running around with Spike, followed by an excited Joost.

'Spike, no!' Thomas heard Lisa shout. He looked up and saw the dog running away from the two girls. 'Shit, run after it!' he yelled. In a flash all the previous commotion was forgotten and everyone was chasing the dog, which apparently enjoyed it because every time they almost had him, he ran faster.

After a minute or three Spike finally skidded to a halt. Three elder men were staring at the dog. One of them had an eyepatch and the other two were smoking a cigar. 'Folks from the city. Bad luck, I say ya. Bad luck.'

Emma and Lisa lifted Spike up into their arms. 'We're so sorry, Spike.' The two girls took a step back when they saw the old men.

Thomas stepped in front of Emma and Lisa. He had to protect them in case the elder men were criminals or anything of the sort.

'You should leave. This place ain't good for ya folks. Newcomers can unravel secrets. Secrets that ought to stay hidden.' The one with the eyepatch told in a warning tone. The other two agreed and gave the kids a dark look.

'Come on, we should go back home.' Thomas turned and urged Maurits to walk ahead with the twins. He took Joosts hand and hastily followed his other siblings. He threw one last look at the men and saw a raven take off behind the trio. A feather fell down slowly, landing before the feet of the one with the eyepatch. Thomas shuddered and fixed his eyes on the road before him.

The man with the eyepatch picked up the feather from the muddy ground. 'Bad luck, aye.'

Maurits insisted they paid the forest next to their house a visit but Thomas was tired of walking around with his current company.

'Spike wants it too, idiot.' Emma complained.

'It's five against one, so we decided democratically.' Maurits brought in. Sometimes that brother of him could be way too annoying.

A list of at least twenty arguments was thrown at Thomas, of which to him only few were actually valid. At last he gave in. A small cry of victory emanated from the group.

'Maurits, keep an eye on Lisa and Emma, kay.' Thomas commanded.

'Why do I have to do everything?' Maurits' patience was growing short. What did his brother think he could do? Command everyone? He always bosses me around, pushes and hits me and badmouths about me, he thought.

'Because I am the eldest and thus the leader.' Thomas responded sternly.

Maurits snorted. 'Hmpf.'

Thomas rolled his eyes. Yeah, as if he wanted to stroll through the forest! If they were going to complain he would leave them right away and head to his room, to see if he could play his guitar. He was lost in his thoughts now. He could only think of his band. They had probably found another guitarist by now. What if they would become famous, would they still want him some day? He was snapped out of his thought when he heard Lisa scream.

Emma and Lisa ran towards him with Spike on a leash. 'Look, he injured himself!' Lisa said. 'He jumped against a sharp treebranch.' Emma added.

Hardly five seconds later also Maurits appeared. He was panting. 'Sorry, I just saw an enormous raven and I had to write down its features.'

Thomas facepalmed. That guy was way too much of a nerd. 'The thing's alright now so you should stop whining. The thing will get upset if you are too.' He told Lisa.

'That's true, Lisa.' Emma said.

Lisa nodded. 'And that thing has a name, idiot.' Emma and Lisa looked fiercely at Thomas.

'Okay! _Spike_ will be fine.' He said.

Strange dog, he thought. Does the thing like to get into trouble or something? I just hope he doesn't do that too often.

'Wait, Maurits. Did you say you saw a raven?' Thomas inquired.

He nodded. 'Yes. It was huge and had beautiful feathers. It was as if it was waiting for something.'

Thomas swallowed. The thought those birds were everywhere scared him a bit. He breathed in a lot of air. He shouldn't show them he was frightened. And by birds, for heaven's sake!

'Watch out when you're alone in the forest. I don't want to take responsibility if you get lost due to studying silly birds. Understood?'

Maurits nodded. Thomas did have a point there. It would be a pain in the arse to find anyone in here if you did not know the way all by yourself.

'So, shall we go home now? Spike's tired.' Emma asked the others.

'For once, Emma, I totally agree with you.' Thomas let out a sigh of relief. 'Let's go back then. Maurits, Emma, Lisa, Joost, we're going!'

Everyone made a sound to let him know they agreed, except for Joost.

'Joost? Joost!' Thomas shouted. No response. He made a full rotation but didn't catch sight of him. He could feel the blood draining from his face. 'Maurits, when was the last time you saw Joost?'

'I can't remember. I know you held his hand when we were with those old men…' Even Maurits seemed surprised he couldn't recall the last time he'd seen the energetic child. Someone as active as him should draw attention, right?

'Emma, Lisa? Do you two know?' Thomas settled his hopes on the neat twins.

To Thomas' horror they both shook their head.

'Shit!' he raised his arms in frustration and panic. 'Where is Joost?'


	2. Chapter 2

**Here I am again, updating this one first.**

**I do not own anything, enjoy reading it!**

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Chapter 2

Thomas froze. They couldn't return home without Joost. His mother would kill him! She was a kind woman but she had the potential to become terrifying when angry. They had to find his little brother at any cost.

'Maurits, take Lisa and Emma with you. If you search that part of the forest I'll go this way.'

The siblings all nodded in agreement and quickly made their way further into the endless rows of trees and plants, taking Spike with them of course. No way the twins would leave him with anyone else besides the two of them.

After nearly half an hour of wandering through the woods and calling out to his little brother, Thomas saw the contours of a gateway. Curiosity took over as he examined the old ruins of what seemed the entrance to a castle or perhaps a village. It consisted of a small wooden bridge, which lead to the gate itself, made from stone and overgrown with vines. At the very top of the former doorway letters were painted on a wooden board. Thomas could barely make out the words.

'Ra… ve….in?' he said. 'Tsssk. I never thought this place could get any creepier.'

Thomas didn't dare to cross the bridge. Who knew the thing would hold him? Instead he made the wise decision to turn back and pick up the search for Joost when a raven flew over his head, screeching loud. The moment he the boy glanced at the animal the whole scene changed. Numerous knights on enormous horses surrounded him. Black birds flew everywhere, their feathers turning the sky pitch black. Thomas fell on his back. His hands punched in every direction, keeping the animals on a distance to no avail. A woman emerged from behind the numerous knights and birds. Her dress had many similarities to a raven.

'Thomas.' She whispered.

One of the knights jumped off his horse and kneeled before the woman. Thomas saw them exchanging a few words though he could not comprehend what they were saying. Another knight walked towards the lady. Both knights approached Thomas and took off their helmets. He turned white. The knights staring at him were older versions of his two brothers. Then, as soon as the scene had appeared, it vanished. The forest was back to its original, quiet state and birds were nowhere to be seen.

Thomas was sweating. Had he really just seen that? Was it an illusion? He didn't know. He got back on his feet again and hesitated a moment before slowly turning his gaze towards the gate. Nothing. Good. That meant it was all in his mind. Maybe it was an indication his new home would drive him to insanity. Thomas knew one thing; he would never set one foot in this bloody forest again.

'Wow! That was wicked cool!' Thomas suddenly heard coming from the ruins.

His mouth opened slightly in disbelief. Did Joost just come through that gate? It was closed and judging by the vines, unable to open. Even if it was open the plants would leave a trace that someone had tried to pass through it.

'Joost! Come here immediately!' Thomas yelled. His brain refused to cope with the currently mysterious appearance of his brother. He would not speak to anyone about this and right now he was too angry and with his little sibling and too confused to take any notice of the gate which miraculously unlocked itself and closed as soon as Joost had fully stepped through it.

'I was a knight! My wooden sword turned real! I was older!' The little boy was overjoyed and sprinted over the bridge, yelling more illogical nonsense at Thomas.

'What have you been doing all that time? We've been searching for half an hour!' Thomas scowled at Joost.

Clearly the boy was oblivious to anger because he wouldn't stop ranting about his adventures as a knight and how he'd been away for days. Thomas' mind would not accept this. Not after what had just happened. 'Do you even know what could've happened?' he only said.

'The Raven-Lady said I would be alright, so there is nothing to worry about. She said she knew you.' Joost merely stated, though those few simple words made a huge impact on Thomas.

'Listen, Joost. There is no Raven-Lady. We're tired of your little games! You have put us through a lot this afternoon. Did you think we would be happy to lose our little brother after chasing that damn dog the whole morning?' He grabbed Joost by his wrist and pulled the boy with him. 'We're going back to seek the others.' And with that, conversation was over. Before the gate went out of sight, Thomas looked behind him. The thing was closed, as if no one had ever touched it.

As the duo reached the spot they had started their search for Joost the others had been there barely five minutes.

'Where was he?' Emma asked.

'I have no clue.' Thomas answered. 'He suddenly was there, mumbling about some knight nonsense.' which he knew only to be true, though he didn't mention anything about his illusion, if it could still be called one.

Maurits moved to Thomas. 'Ah, well, we were searching, too, but we found a whole different thing than Joost.' He showed his older brother a piece of paper with a large feather attached to it. 'It's a map of this region in the thirteenth century.' He stated. 'Simply marvellous, isn't it? A piece of history, literally!'

Thomas snatched the parchment from Maurits' hands. 'It's rubbish.'

'But-'

'I don't want any of this! It's a lie!' Thomas tore the map into tiny pieces before his siblings' eyes. 'I dare someone to bring up the tiniest bit of information or nonsense about this place. I don't want anything to do with this.'

Maurits watched shocked how his brother destroyed every last bit of his hope to unravel more of this unique place. 'What's with him? He's usually not like this.' He said when his brother had left with Joost.

'I don't know.' Emma whispered.

'Maybe he's homesick.' Lisa added. She picked the gleaming feather up that Thomas had ripped from the map.

'No.' Maurits said. 'That's not it.' and he took out a piece of paper and a pen. He was determined to find out every single detail about this map. Even if this meant concealing any information he had. 'Thomas is afraid.'

It cost him several minutes to squint out of the gloomy forest toward his new home, but Thomas finally got there. He paused. A moment he felt a small pang because he'd reacted a bit harsh. He quickly got rid of that feeling and proceeded into his house, where he saw his mother in the living room. She appeared to be excited about something, since she was making all kinds of gestures which made no sense. 'Hey, mom. What are you doing?'

'Oh, hi Thomas!' She exclaimed. 'I have a wonderful idea for a painting. You see, I was dozing off and in that very moment a flash passed before my eyes. It's going to be a beautiful piece of art! Just wait and see.' His mother hugged him tightly, making Thomas grow a bit uncomfortable.

'Can you show me it when you're done? I would love to see it finished.' He gave her a wide, stunning smile. If there was anyone who made him happy, it was his mum when she was about to paint. Her reverberating energy had no limits if she transformed in her artist-mode, as Thomas called it, and it made her seem ten years younger.

Said mother pulled out of the hug and gave a satisfied nod. 'Of course you can, now could you please leave me? I'm heading towards my art-studio. I have so much inspiration!'

He gave out a slight chuckle, wished his mum good luck and darted up the stairs. Maybe it was time to empty his head. Thomas did the single thing he considered relaxing. He plugged in his ever so clean, blood-red guitar, strumming the snares in rhythms only he and his former band crew knew.

It would've been several hours later, by the time dinner was served, that Thomas actually showed his face again. He took a seat at the large oak table and observed his family members. Despite the events from this day, no one had bothered to mention it to one of his parents, luckily. Finally something that relieved him quite a lot. With a brightened expression he dug into his spaghetti.

'So, how was your day, children?' His father asked. Surely he must have been curious as to what everyone thought of the place.

Joost was the first one to react. 'There is a freaking cool forest! The knights will save everyone.' He grinned. According to Maurits they had been playing 'protect the princess' outside. How hard it was to admit, Thomas found it a genius lie. The damn bastard could be handy, sometimes. Most of the however, he was just a know-it-all.

'You, too, Thomas?' Now his mother was curious. Couldn't they just accept this story?

'Yes. I was bored, okay?'

'But you never like playing with your brothers and sisters.'

'I was the one holding the dog while those four played, mom. Did you think I would lower myself to their level as to play with them?'

The table fell silent. The tension in Thomas' voice was clearly noticeable. The whole family concentrated themselves on their plates again.

'Are you alright, Thomas?' his father asked him.

He gave no answer. Instead, he rose and abandoned his dinner. 'I'll be outside if you need me.'

Everyone stared at the teen until he shut the door behind him and they refrained from bringing today's events up again.

Thomas didn't leave the house. He was outrageous and in search for a place of solitude. He slumped past doors and came to a stop in front of a heavy wooden door. 'Moms atelier.' Normally not a living soul was allowed permission to enter this specific room, but if he were to be honest, he didn't give a darn thing about it now. He turned the doorknob and opened the door. He shouldn't have.

_Help us, knight!_

The words cut through his mind as soon as he'd taken a look at the tremendously big painting of the very same lady he'd seen in his so-called hallucination this afternoon. Thomas swallowed. Where had that come from? Apparently he was losing his reason. However, what currently mattered more to him was how in the world his own mother was capable of painting the exact woman from his vision? He was feeling lightheaded. This couldn't be merely a coincidence, right?

Thomas had to leave this chamber this instant. He staggered toward the door but accidentally knocked over a little cabinet with brushes and tubes filled with paint in a variety of colours. The world was flickering before him.

'What are you doing here?' his mother was towering above the brown haired lad, who was on his knees, trembling and struggling to keep from fainting. 'Thomas!' She noticed he was transpiring. Within mere seconds she had her arms wrapped around him to support his weight while leading him to his room step by step.

'You should try to sleep. Why were you in my atelier, anyway? I was assuming you'd gone for a stroll outside.' His mother was anxious, he could see that in her eyes.

'I'm okay mom, I was just astonished by your painting, and I am still feeling peckish, so it's very probable that those two combined were just too much.' His voice was faltering. This was presumably the lamest lie ever, he knew that too well, and he was certain his mother would not take it for an answer.

The response he got caught him off guard, though.

'Raven… I mean, did you like my newest creation?' It took Thomas a moment to process what she was trying to say.

He shut his eyes and nodded. 'It was a wonderful peace of art.' He huffed. 'Mom, where did you find the inspiration to paint her?' to be honest, he didn't want to have anything to do with this anymore, but he had to comprehend what exactly was taking place in his head. Was it real, what Thomas desperately hoped not to be, or was he dreaming and seeing things?

'Haha,' she began, 'You'll think it's strange, but she came to me in a dream. She specifically requested me to draw her and five knights. I woke up immediately after the dream and had inspiration.'

'That is unbelievable.'

'How come, darling?'

'It's impossible to remember your dreams that detailed.' He clarified.

His mother stretched herself and made her way to the door. 'Not if you keep believing you can. Rest, my dear.' With that she switched off the light and headed back to the kitchen.'

'Ugh.' Thomas grumbled when he heard the footsteps fading. 'It's still evening.'

He sat right up and looked around. It was still light enough to see where everything was. What did this new turn of events mean? Maybe he wasn't the only one hallucinating things. After all, he hadn't wanted to hear Joost's stories.

'What was it the gate said again?' he wondered. 'Rave.. Oh, I think I said it wrong when I was down at the gate, it should have been Raveleijn.' He spoke to no one in particular.

Thomas sensed the atmosphere around him changing. He shuddered, shifting his gaze to his nearest window as he did. It was open. He marched steadfast with fake confidence to his window, as if he was a soldier in war who knew his life was on the verge of being ended, but still attempting to convince himself this was all for a purpose.

He couldn't make out anything outside. Wasn't it light just a few minutes ago? Suddenly, he saw the blackness what ought to be his view move. Thomas stumbled backwards and fell. Those were _birds._ Countless raven were lingering around the frame. His breath hitched. This was not even close to an extraordinary phenomenon of birds, this was outright frightening.

'Mau… Emma… Li-' Thomas hadn't he courage to yell. His whispers were barely audible, for human hearing that was. The pitch-black creatures lurking in the shadows invaded his room in huge wings. Terrified, the normally so cocky boy pushed the bird away as far as he could, though there was a rain of feathers that was thickening by the second. Everything was twirling and swirling around him. Thomas was slipping into a state of narcose, as if between the line of consciousness and a comatose. At a certain point, he couldn't make out bird nor feather and he succumbed to the black storm overwhelming him. The last flash he saw was being lifted up and dissolving into nothing.

Joost had been watching the whole scene in disbelief. Paralyzed, he had been trying to contain what atrocious fate had befallen upon his big brother. When he felt his blood circulating in his legs again he ran downstairs to his brother and sisters.

'Maurits! Thomas has been kidnapped by birds!'


	3. Chapter 3

**Very short chapter this time, due to a lot of schoolwork and trouble, sorry! I don't own the characters etc etc.**

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'Maurits! Thomas has been kidnapped by birds!'

The older sibling could only stare at Joost befuddled. Debating what was the best way to respond to this _unique _statement he managed only to pronounce one single word. 'What?' The expression on his face showed clear signs of confusion.

Joost didn't hesitate to proclaim his statement a second time. 'Thomas has been kidnapped by birds! I saw them, huge birds with feathers as dark as the night. They lifted him up and flew away!' He was trying to explain what he had seen in detail by making big motions with his arms in numerous directions.

Lisa and Emma had heard the two brothers and came to see what was going on. As soon as they were aware of the situation the twins plucked their coats off the peg, opened the door quietly and snuck outside. They motioned for Maurits and Joost to come, too.

'Are you nuts? If mom and dad find out we're-' Maurits began when Emma interrupted him.

'Don't you believe Joost? If he saw Thomas disappear we have to hurry up or else we won't catch up with the birds in time. It won't be long, promised.'

Maurits sighed and gave in. Both he and Joost grabbed their outdoor clothing and followed Lisa and Emma into the crispy nightfall air.

At first, they didn't have much evidence to determine their heading, but their doubt lasted for mere minutes, as for Joost had found a trail of the black feathers he had been so vocal about. Emma and Lisa then scolded Maurits for not having believed in their little brother, which caused the longest part of their persecution to consist of the cleverest sibling defending himself against the illogical arguments his sisters countered him with. By the time they noticed where they had walked to their breaths hitched. They had unconsciously strolled straight toward a gate.

Joost couldn't contain his emotions as a little boy. 'It's the gate to the Raven Lady!' He exclaimed. 'We're going to be knights. I am sure the birds brought Thomas there.' he whispered, looking up to the gate in amazement.

The arch was entirely covered in plants and only one word could be read from the gateway. Raveleijn. Maurits read it out loud, barely able to distinguish the letters in the by now almost pitch black night. His eyes had yet to grow accustomed to the lack of sunlight. However, after several seconds passed, the vines began to give way for something, or someone. It was not that much later when the gateway radiated a small light and was completely clean, not a single leaf perceptible.

'Well,' Lisa commenced. 'Are we going?' She had voiced the question that was roaming through everyone's minds.

The first one to break the building tension was Joost. 'Yes! We will end up being wicked awesome knights! Let's go.' He exclaimed. He left no room for arguing as he sprinted for the gateway and leapt through it, to the others' dismay and concern. Sheer panic etched its way onto their faces when they saw the little boy vanish. Rapidly, the remaining siblings ran after him, more because they didn't want to lose Joost again rather than excitement for this enigmatic gate leading to a yet unknown place for them.

Darkness overwhelmed them. Their feet were lifted off the ground by a powerful strike of wind, followed by a coldness that could leave even the bravest men shivering. Their bodies twirled around, they felt themselves stretch inch by inch and previous clothes were replaced by a completely new attire, sturdy leather creating an impenetrable armour.

With a loud smack they fell on the ground, which now seemed to consist of grass and mud. Still a bit shaken from the impact of their fall they pulled themselves up carefully, for they also had to get used to their new stature. Instead of the fragile forms they had had not a couple of minutes ago they now were fully grown and taller than they had ever expected to be.

'Are we… adults?' Emma tilted her head slightly, as if to both investigate and inspect everyone's form.

'Technically not.' Maurits replied. 'Our bodies may have grown, our mentality is still the same as the one of children our age.' He stated. With difficulty he held back a broad smile. Secretly, Maurits enjoyed his new state. According to himself his looks improved a lot in the small amount of time it took to change them. The thought that he might actually like the direction in which this adventure was going sprang up in him. He shook his head and focused on the main objective at the moment; to find Thomas. 'We shouldn't hesitate. Our brother could be anywhere.'

It didn't take them long to find him though. While they were wandering through the thick forest a shriek could be heard, not far from their current location. When they scurried to the source of the call of distress they had a fair view of what was going on. Thomas, now a strongly built knight dressed in scarlet coloured leather, was fending off a creature. Not far behind him a girl stood frozen in her tracks. From what the siblings could see the monster was striving to collect the mysterious young maiden.

Thomas' opponent was not only bigger than him, it wasn't a living creature. Somehow it seemed to be a mechanical structure made to liquidate everyone who got in its way. What made it even worse was that it has razor sharp claws, ready to strike at any moment. The current situation didn't look good for the oldest brother.

All of a sudden Joost jumped out of their hiding spot and ran for the mechanic beast. 'Get away from my brother foul beast!' he yelled. For a second it seemed both Thomas, the monster and the girl were distracted but soon enough the monster regained its composure and lashed at the knight in red armour. Thomas fell backward on the ground and landed in front of the creature.

By the time the youngest one reached the ferocious metal beast he had already unsheathed a sword that was attached to his brownish, almost somewhat yellow armour and clashed weapons with the ingeniously assembled thing that resembled some sort of dinosaur. Joosts attack had no effect at all, only a dull _cling_ could be heard from afar. For just a second the man didn't know what to do.

The monster took this opportunity to knock out the young man. It was about to strike a fatal blow when it noticed the girl was attempting to flee the scene unnoticed.

In this moment of stalemate, just when it had registered the girls movements, the three siblings that were concealing themselves not moments ago jumped out of the bushes and screamed a diversity of insults at the metal creature.

Within those mere seconds the creature decided upon not taking the risk of losing its original prey by playing around with a bunch of knights that couldn't protect themselves and lunged for the girl. The monster buried its sharp teeth into her attire and paid no attention to her resisting and yelling as it disappeared into the dark woods. It was only when Lisa, Emma and Maurits had determined the damage of the beast on Thomas and Joost wasn't dangerous and could be treated rather easy that they came to the conclusion they didn't perceive the monster nor the fair maiden anymore.


End file.
